Contents

Fandom

The character of Dr. Parrish appeared very briefly in the second season episode Runner, the episode that introduced Ronon Dex. His first name is never given, but fanon is near unanimous in the choice of David. He is identified as a Botanist, and is conducting some kind of science mission with Evan Lorne. (While Lorne appears in many episodes, he is never shown as having a set team like John Sheppard does.) Parrish appeared again very briefly in the fifth season episode Remnants, but by that time the pairing and the fanon around Parrish's character was well established.[1]

It is a rare pairing with only a few hundred fanworks in a fandom that often produces thousands for the popular pairings.

Appeal to Fans

Many reasons have been given for fans latching onto such a minor character and creating a fanon and pairing that gained a small, but dedicated following.

Some fans have said that Parrish's performance, as brief as it was, was coded as gay. Since SGA has never had a canon gay character, Parrish is the closest fans could get to an out gay man on Atlantis. This interpretation is controversial because it can call into play stereotypes about gay men when fans interpret the actor's mannerisms and voice as a sign of the character being gay.

Many fans simply wanted to have a second gate team to play with in their fanfic, and since Parrish was the only scientist seen in canon with Lorne, he became the scientist on Lorne's team. The slash pairing then seemed inevitable as a mirror of the ubiquitous Sheppard/McKay. Lorne/Zelenka is a pairing that also fits that pattern, but Zelenka rarely leaves Atlantis, making the pairing not suitable for people who wanted to write fic set off-world.

There has also been criticism of the pairing for creating a new slash pairing in a fandom that has lots already and has a reputation of ignoring the many female characters in favour of the male stars.

Similarly, fans are sometimes not pleased by the popularity of a pairing arising out of the episode that introduced Ronon, when they see the fandom as not as quick to appreciate Ronon, one of the major secondary characters. However, as of April 2011 there are only 46 Lorne/Parrish stories listed at Crossroads while there are ten times as many John/Ronon stories (477), so it can't really be said that Ronon is less popular.

Fanworks

Examples Wanted: Editors are encouraged to add more examples or a wider variety of examples.

Perimeter by casspeach is the oldest Lorne/Parrish entry in the SGA Newsletter memories. The story was posted less than one month after Runner first aired.[2] Parrish has the first name David in that story.